7 Goals to Hit by 45

Turning 45 is not good news. It’s feeling a lot worse than 40 for some reason. I guess it’s because midlife probably passed by sometime between those two birthdays. The life expectancy for men in the US is actually just 76.9. I figure I’ll live a little longer than average because I’m not obese, don’t take drugs/smoke, exercise regularly, and live a relatively healthy lifestyle. But that’ll buy me just a few years. I really don’t think I’ll make it to 90. The men in my family don’t live that long. They live an unhealthy lifestyle and check out relatively early for the most part. I guess we’ll see if I can outperform the family history.

Anyway, I’m turning 45 soon. That’s why I’m making this list of goals to accomplish by 45. Most of them are basics, but there are a few challenging goals, too. This type of post is always fun for everyone. You can see how you’re doing and it gives you something to shoot for. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Oh, keep count as you go. You get a point for every one of these goals you’ve accomplished. I’ll give you a score at the end of the post.

1. No Consumer Debt

Debt is bad. When you have debt, it’s difficult to save and invest. Unfortunately, most of us have debt of some kind. At 45, you should have control of your money. The student loans should be paid off and you shouldn’t have any other consumer debt.

Here is my list of what I consider bad debt.

Payday loans

Credit card debts

Store credit debts

Auto loans

Medical debts

Student loan debts

Personal loans

If you have any of these, you need to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Bonus point: I consider the home mortgage a consumer debt. We all need a place to live and I think being a homeowner is better than renting. You get a bonus point if your mortgage is paid off, though. That’s a great accomplishment. Nice job!

2. Retirement Planning

45 is not young anymore. At this age, you’re probably more than halfway through your working life. You should have a retirement plan by now. There is still time to save for retirement, but the earlier you start investing, the better off you’ll be. It’s really bad to put off retirement savings beyond this point. Working until you die isn’t a plan because you can’t always do that. Our health deteriorates and our skills need constant adjustment as we age. Employers generally prefer younger and cheaper employees these days.

To retire early like this, you need to save and invest very early in your career. I started investing since I began my engineering career in 1996 and I’m still contributing to my retirement savings today. I was able to retire early when I achieved financial independence. It’s incredible what happens when you max out your 401k contributions every year.

Bonus point: You get a bonus point if you’re maxing out your 401k and Roth IRA contributions every year. That’s $24,000 in 2018. If your employer doesn’t have a retirement plan, then we’ll count whatever you invest. So you still get a bonus point if you invest more than $24,000 in 2018.

3. Net Worth 10x

We’re working backward on this one. According to the 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate, You need at least 25x your annual expense to retire comfortably. Basically, you can withdraw 4% of your investable asset and it should last 30+ years. 25x is just the minimum, though. If you want to retire in your 30s or 40s, then you will need some padding.

For our purposes, we’ll just stick with 25x as the baseline. At 45, you should have 10x your annual cost of living right now. This is because it usually takes 6-7 years to double your investment. In 10 to 15 years, you can grow 10x annual expense to 25x. Then, you can retire comfortably without worrying much about finance.

Figuring out this net worth multiple can take some work. You need to track your expense and see how much you spend every year. If you don’t already do this, then you should start right away. Tracking your spending is a great way to become more serious about your finances. You need to know where your money went. This is an essential step to figuring out if you can retire comfortably.

Next, you need to figure out your net worth. This is everything you have that can be converted into money. I include our primary residence in our net worth, but it only makes up about 5% so it’s not a big deal. You can read more about our net worth here if you’re interested – RB40 Household Net Worth Breakdown.

Bonus point: Give yourself a bonus point if your net worth is more than 20x your annual expense. This means you’re very close to financial independence. You’re almost there!

4. Maintain Your Health

This one is tricky at midlife. Some of us have it together and are living a healthy lifestyle. However, most of us have let ourselves go since college. I gained 14 pounds since then and I’m a lot less active. This is not good. If I continue living this way, I’ll become overweight soon.

My lifestyle improved a bit since I quit my engineering career. I’m more active and I have less stress in my life. However, the weak point is my diet. It doesn’t take many extra calories to gain a pound annually. Overeating is a big problem for many of us. I need to eat healthier to stay healthy as I age beyond 45. The good news is that I have taken steps in the right direction and lost 10 pounds so far!

If you’re looking to lose weight and become leaner, check out Martin’s new Fasting Course. He’ll get you started with fasting and simplifying your exercise program. It’s working really well for me. Hopefully, I can stick with intermittent fasting for the long haul.

Here is a short list what you need to do to stay healthy as you age.

Maintain your weight. This means no gaining weight as you age.

Minimize junk food, soda, sugar, and processed food.

Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. That’s at least 5 servings/day… Sheesh!

Don’t smoke.

Always put on your seat belt and drive safe.

Be physically active regularly. Shoot for at least 30 minutes/day.

Visit your doctor at least once per year.

Build a strong social network. It is very important to have good friends and acquaintances.

Minimize stress.

It’s not easy to do all of these things above. Life in the US is very busy and most of us don’t have time to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This is extremely important at our age, though. Wealth without health is NOT good enough. You need both to enjoy life to the fullest. IMO, health is a ton more important than money. Plenty of poor people have a happy life.

I admit, I didn’t get a point. I’ll have to improve my lifestyle to earn a point here.

5. Stable Family Life

At this point, you should have a stable family life. I’m a bit biased here because we’ve been married for almost 20 years. It’s a lot easier to achieve goals when you have a supportive partner. Marrying Mrs. RB40 was the best move I made when I was young. We are a great team. I wouldn’t have been able to retire early if she wasn’t on board with the idea.

Kids… What can I say? Some people love them, some people don’t. IMO, you should be done with kids by the time you’re 45. What I mean is, you shouldn’t have more kids at this point. They are disruptive. Who wants to chase babies around when you’re in your late 40s?

Anyway, you get a point if you have a stable family life. This means there are no changes in the horizon. If you’re single with no kid and plan to stay that way, then you get a point, too. In fact, it’s probably easier to retire early if you’re single. Changes are disruptive and can easily screw up your finance. Let’s stay the course at this point.

6. Know Your Parents’ Plan

At 45, you’ll most likely be part of the sandwich generation. Your parents are older and they may or may not need help. Now is the time to talk to them about their future. Can they retire and live independently? Each case is different so you really need to talk to them.

For us, all our parents are living separately.

My mom: She’s living with us now, but that will change in the future. She has dementia and will need more help soon. My mom does not have any retirement savings. We’ll need to fund her retirement and healthcare. Luckily, my brothers can help here.

My dad: He lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand by himself. He is very independent and doesn’t want any help. I trusted him because he has always looked after himself. However, he had a very bad fall recently. I’m not sure what to think now. He’s one of those people that plan to work forever. This plan isn’t working out as well now that he’s 72. He doesn’t have the stamina to hustle as much anymore. He has some asset so he can fund his retirement for a while.

My FIL: He lives in California independently. He’s doing well now, but he may need more help in the future. His retirement savings is in good shape so we don’t have to worry about finance.

My MIL: She’s pretty similar to my FIL. She is in good shape for now.

You get a point if you know your parents’ finance and retirement plans. Hopefully, your parents saved for retirement so you don’t have to contribute too much.

7. Have A Will

About 55% of Americans do not have a will or other estate plan in place. This statistic isn’t encouraging. I guess most people don’t have many assets to pass down so they don’t think they need it. A will is necessary if you have dependents, though. You need to spell out exactly what you want or else the state will decide for you.

I made a DIY will about 3 years ago. Our situation was simpler then so it was easy to make a DIY will with a program. It’s outdated now, though. Our investment accounts have changed and I need to update the will. This time, I will talk to a lawyer to make it airtight.

Bonus point: You get a bonus point if you have a living trust. It’s a good idea if your estate is sizeable.

Score

0-2: Not good. You’re 45. It’s time to grow up and enter the world of adulting.

3-5: Not bad, but there is room for improvement.

6-7: Congratulations! You’re a respectable adult.

8+: Awesome! You’re ready for the big 5-0.

How did you do? My score is 7. That’s pretty good, but I’m sure lots of you did better. Hopefully, I’ll check off a few more over the next few years. My biggest priority today is to live a healthier lifestyle. Wealth is good, but health is paramount.